Humane Catholic

Motion 24: Melbourne Synod, 20 October 2018 Conversion Therapy  That Synod  a)  acknowledges that all people are made in the image of God, regardless of sexuality or gender identity  b)  acknowledges the position of the Australian Psychological Society that “strongly opposes any approach to psychological practice or research that treats lesbians, gay men, and bisexual people as disordered, and any approach that attempts to change an individual's sexual orientation”  c)  calls upon Church members to be sensitive to, and to listen to, diverse expressions of sexuality and gender identity, to accept, validate, support, and encourage those in our churches who are seeking to live in accordance with biblical teaching and to live out their identity in union with Christ and his calling, and to not recommend “Conversion Therapy" to anyone; and  d)  calls on the state government—through the Healthcare Complaints Commissioner (HCC)  I...

Motion 13, Melbourne Synod 20 October 2018  Form of Blessing for Civil Marriages  That Synod  a)  acknowledges the widespread national and local support for the recent changes to Australian marriage laws, to include same-sex couples; and  b)  commends the pastoral value of the Archbishop authorising a revised Form of Blessing of a Civil Marriage, which may include marriages between two persons of the same sex, for optional use within the Diocese of Melbourne alongside, or in addition to, a wedding conducted by a civil celebrant.  Mr President, members of synod, I rise in support of the motion standing in my name. Craig D’Alton, St Mary’s North Melbourne and Archdeacon of Melbourne. I stand to move this motion very reluctantly, but for two reasons. My first reason is that I believe that the church, and this synod, needs to acknowledge that society at large has made a clear decision in favour of marriage equality, and that that d...

A sermon at St Mary's North Melbourne 30 September 2018 Text: Mark 9:38-50 It is probably one of the most mis-quoted texts in the new Testament – “Whoever is not against us is for us.” How often have I heard instead, “Whoever is not for us is against us.” The grammarians amongst you will understand that this is one of those occasions in English where word order matters. Let’s start with a secular example. Let us say, for argument’s sake, that I am an indigenous politician, and I am arguing for a change in the law to improve the health outcomes for members of my community. I lobby, I give speeches, I get the matter in the public eye and on the national agenda.  I discover that the people with a parliamentary vote on this question fall into a number of categories in response: 1) Those who stand to benefit directly from the success of such a policy are in favour. They are “for us.” There are two of them. 2) Those who have nothing to gain personally, but who a...

“God is love, and those who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.”  These words from 1 John 4, which begin the marriage service in A Prayer Book for Australia , undergird the doctrine of marriage as it has been received by Anglicans. We the bishops of the Anglican Church of Australia, affirm the following: 1) The injunction to love is the greatest of the commandments, and any discussion of marriage ought to begin with the principle that marriage is a sign of God’s love in the world. 2) All people, including gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and other gender identifying people, are children of God, and created in God’s image. 3) The law of the Commonwealth of Australia has changed to allow the marriage of persons who previously could not marry one another, and this Church has not yet come to a clear view on how this change effects the doctrine of marriage of this Church, nor has it yet formulated a uniform liturgical response. 4) We are committed to wo...